Zach O'Brien hits 40-goal mark as the Titan edge the Screaming Eagles

The Canadian Press

Zach O'Brien scored twice, including the winner, as the Acadie-Bathurst Titan edged the host Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 3-2 on Friday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.

O'Brien is the fourth player this season in the QMJHL to reach the 40-goal mark and his 41 goals are good for third in league scoring. It's the second season the 20-year-old forward has reached 40 goals after scoring 50 last season in 63 games.

Acadie-Bathurst's Jacob Brennan stopped 43-of-45 shots for the win and it was the ninth time in 48 appearances this season that he has faced 40 or more shots.

Michael Beaudry also scored for the Titan (23-30-6), who are one-of-five teams fighting for the one of the final three playoff positions, while Patrik Zdrahal and Francois Godin chipped in with two assists apiece.

Beaudry's goal was his 31st of the season and his 16th in 25 games with Acadie-Bathurst since being acquired from the Val-d'Or Foreurs.

Raphael Corriveau and Bronson Beaton scored for the Screaming Eagles (12-38-8), who sit eight points out of the final playoff spot with 10 games remaining in the regular season, and David Honzik turned aside 36 shots in a losing cause.

Acadie-Bathurst went the entire game without a power-play opportunity, while Cape Breton scored twice on four chances with the man advantage.

Anthony Mantha of the Val-d'Or Foreurs currently leads the league in goals with 45 and P.E.I. Rocket forward Josh Currie is second with 42.

At Sydney, N.S., Beaudry opened the scoring 4:31 into the first period to give the Titan a 1-0 lead.

Corriveau and Beaton responded a 1:50 apart, with both goals coming by way of the power play, to give Cape Breton a one-goal advantage after 20 minutes of play.

After being outshot in the first period 22-9, Acadie-Bathurst came out in the second period and tied the game at 6:51 when O'Brien connected on a pass from linemate Matthew Bissonnette.

O'Brien scored the eventual winner at 15:18 of the third period.

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Mooseheads 6 Sea Dogs 1

At Halifax, Andrew Ryan scored twice and Jonathan Drouin extended his point streak to 21 games with three assists as the Mooseheads (48-6-3) crushed Saint John (21-36-1) for their sixth win in a row.

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Wildcats 7 Voltigeurs 2

At Moncton, N.B., Yannick Veillieux had two goals and two assists and Dmitrij Jaskin scored once and set up three more as the Wildcats (36-20-1) downed Drummondville (31-23-4) to improve to 23-6-1 on home ice.

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Armada 3 Tigres 2

At Victoriaville, Que., Etienne Marcoux stopped 33-of-35 shots and Marc-Olivier Roy's goal at 8:26 of the third period stood up as the winner as Blainville-Boisbriand (34-16-8) halted the Tigres (26-24-8) four-game win streak.

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Drakkar 3 Phoenix 2 (SO)

At Baie-Comeau, Que., Peter Straka and Valentin Zykov each scored in the shootout and Francis Desrosiers made 23 saves as the Drakkar (38-16-5) edged Sherbrooke (17-34-7), who lost for the first time in three contests.

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Oceanic 5 Sagueneens 4 (SO)

At Chicoutimi, Que., Francis Beauvillier scored twice in regulation and then the winner in the shootout as Rimouski (38-13-8) ended a three-game winless streak by slipping past the Sagueneens (25-27-7).

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Huskies 4 Remparts 2

At Rouyn-Noranda, Que., Alexandre Belanger made 31 saves and Marcus Power's goal at 9:06 of the second period proved to be the difference as the Huskies (33-21-4) doubled up Quebec (34-20-4), which lost in regulation for the first time in seven outings.

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Foreurs 5 Olympiques 2

At Val-d'Or, Que., Vincent Dunn recorded his second career hat trick and Francois Tremblay turned away 29-of-31 shots as the Foreurs (33-23-3) handed Gatineau (27-28-3) its third loss in a row.

He's only 17 but he can see the ice so well and he moves the puck and goes to the open ice all the time, so I just think he's a player that is ready to play in the NHL. I'm really looking forward to coaching someone like this.

— U.S. National Junior Team coach Ron Wilson on Auston Matthews, the projected No. 1 pick of the 2016 NHL Draft